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Making your job application stand out to employers in today’s competitive job market can be challenging, especially if you haven’t updated your resume in a while, but using a few simple resume writing strategies can set you up for long-term career success.
Here are five ways to improve your resume in 2022 and boost your chances of landing more job interviews.
READ — Hiring and Attracting Talent
Study the resumes of other professionals in your industry
By connecting with others in your field and building strong relationships in the workplace, you can learn a lot about what employers are looking for — and how to present yourself in the best possible light.
Scout out the skills, experience, and certifications other professionals in your field use on their resumes. You can find examples of peoples’ resumes through LinkedIn, online groups and organizations, or by directly asking your colleagues and mentors for their advice.
And while you shouldn’t copy anyone’s resume word-for-word, you can still gather inspiration from your research.
After viewing what others deem to be important on their resumes and online profiles, reconsider what sections, formatting, or skills you’ll need to update on your own application to set yourself up for success.
Target your resume’s keywords to the job posting
Tailoring your resume’s keywords to the company you want is essential for getting noticed by recruiters.
Currently, modern companies use applicant tracking software (ATS) to filter out and select suitable candidates with the skillset and experience they seek. So if you use the exact keywords from a company job posting on your resume, you’ll have a higher chance of moving past the ATS software and into a hiring manager’s inbox.
Include numbers throughout your resume
As you’re looking through your resume, try adding numbers to the bullet points of your work history so hiring managers can visualize what you’ve done in each role.
Numbers like percentages, dollar amounts, lengths of time, and other data tell employers you’re capable of achieving concrete results and show them how you’d contribute to their company.
Write down a range of numbers (e.g., 10–20) if you don’t have exact figures, and write numbers as figures instead of words to save space on your resume.
Use the active voice instead of the passive voice
To make your resume writing more powerful and direct, remove any passive voice phrases. Instead, replace these phrases with the active voice.
Using the passive voice can make your resume descriptions sound ambiguous and add extra words to your resume (e.g., Involved in the planning of 3 successful meetings during Q3).
On the other hand, writing phrases using the active voice accurately describe your contributions and impact so employers can better grasp your work history (e.g., Planned 3 successful meetings during Q3) and see you as a leader in your field.
Invest in professional assistance
Many services are available online or through local professionals that can help you create a high-quality resume highlighting your strengths as a candidate.
For example, using a resume builder or downloading a pre-formatted resume template can be helpful if you don’t have much experience with writing resumes, are short on time, or aren’t sure how to market yourself effectively in your target industry.
If you can afford it, you can also search online for licensed professionals, such as Certified Professional Resume Writers, to help you write your resume. They’ll typically interview you and ask you for all of your professional qualifications and distill it down into a one-page resume.
Eva Chan is a Career Counselor and Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) at Resume Genius, and has a background in the education management industry. Eva graduated from the University of British Columbia with a bachelor’s degree in English. She’s since coached several professionals with building their resumes and finding fulfilling work.